Minestra di Cipolle di Tropea

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional as needed
• 4 ounces salt pork, diced
• 2 pounds sweet violet or red-skinned onions or yellow-skinned Vidalia, Walla Walla, or Texas Sweet onions, peeled and sliced thin
• 1 large head firm, fresh garlic, cloves separated, unpeeled and slightly crushed
• 1 tablespoon fine sea salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cups dry white wine
• 5 cups good beef stock, preferably homemade
• 1 cup good red wine
• 1/4 cup grappa
• 8 1/2-inch slices good country bread
• 1 1/2 cups just-grated pecorino
• Freshly cracked pepper

1. In a large, wide terra-cotta or enameled cast-iron casserole over a medium flame, warm 3 tablespoons of olive oil and saute the salt pork, crusting it well, then removing it with a slotted spoon to a holding plate.
2. Add the onions and the garlic, tossing them about in the fat until the onions are translucent.
3. Lower the flame a bit and sprinkle on the sea salt and brown sugar, cooking the onions and garlic for 1/2 hour, stirring them often, until they have caramelized a bit and taken on a soft, golden color.
4. Add the bay leaf, the white wine, and the stock, bringing the liquid to a simmer, cooking the soup for 20 minutes before adding the red wine and the grappa and simmering it gently for 5 minutes more.
5. Preheat the oven broiler.
6. Lay the slices of bread over the hot soup, dust the bread thickly with pecorino, and drop thin threads of olive oil over the whole.
7. Generously grind pepper over the casserole and place it under the broiler to toast the bread and brown the cheese.
8. Carry the soup, golden and sputtering, to the table, ladling it into warmed, deep soup plates.
9. Pass a bottle of grappa should anyone desire additional benediction.

extravirgin olive oil, salt pork, sweet violet, head firm, salt, brown sugar, bay leaf, white wine, beef stock, red wine, grappa, country bread, pecorino, freshly cracked pepper

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/minestra-di-cipolle-di-tropea-391185 (may not work)